John Woike: August 2011 Archives

One hundred and eighty seven frames, images, photos - at a baseball game. I don't think I've shot that few frames at a baseball game in years, but that's what happens when all your batteries are either dead, near dead or blinking to go dead. Panic strikes, I search through my fanny pack for spares, none to be found. Find two in my laptop bag, dead. I don't normally pack a charger when I go to a Rock Cats game because the batteries in today's DSLR's are a far improvement over the batteries of just a few years ago when you were changing them halfway through a basketball game. What to do, what to do...shoot less and concentrate on timing.

All photos and text by John Woike

The ball gets past New Britain Rock Cats 2nd baseman Michael Hollimon as Callix Crabbe of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats steals during the top of the 7th inning at New Britain Stadium Friday night.

Brian Dozier of the New Britain Rock Cats watches his two run homer in the bottom of the 3rd inning give the Rock Cats a 2-0 lead against Travis d'Arnaud and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at New Britain Stadium Friday night.

Michael Hollimon gives Brian Dozier of the New Britain Rock Cats a high five after Dozier hit a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 3rd inning against New Hampshire Fisher Cats at New Britain Stadium Friday night. Rock Cats lead 2-0.

Choosing which side to shoot from at the game for me comes down to a couple things. Can I find electricity to plug my laptop in so I can transmit during the game? Which baseline is the home team on? At the Rock Cats ball field there are a couple pits at the end of each dugout that is available to media. I usually take a spot on the 1st base side to get the bench reaction after homeruns like the this photo. I prefer to be on the third base side for the HR shot in the previous photo to see faces but you can't always be in the right spot so be happy the images you do get.

Callix Crabbe of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats dives safely back to 1st base as Chris Parmelee applies the tag at New Britain Stadium Friday night. The Rock Cats defeated the Eastern Division leader 3-1.

I do like to shoot a low angle for possible pick-off plays at first.

Nate Hansen of the New Britain Rock Cats lays down the sacrafice bunt to push Evan Bigley over to third during the bottom of the seventh. Bigley scored to give the Rock Cats a 3-0 lead after 7 innings.

New Britain Rock Cats starter Bobby Lanigan went 7 strong innings against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at New Britain Stadium Friday night leaving with a 2-0 lead. The Rock Cats put another one on the board to make it 3-0 after 7 complete innings.

I do try to make at least one image work as an experiment. Using a slow shutter speed and a little panning I tried to capture the motion and velocity of Lanigan in full stride. This one worked at 1/30th of second using a 300/2.8 mounted to a Nikon D300s supported by a monopod.

Pro Tip: When you find yourself in a pickle (dead batteries), and you will if you survive in this profession, use your experience, discretion and most of all - remain calm.

Cameras used - Nikon D300s and D300. Lens - 300/2.8 and 70-200/2.8. ISO rating ranged from 640 at dusk, to 2500 under full lights and 1250 when shooting slow shutter for blur action. It helps to lower your ISO and boost your aperture when shooting motion blur, a greater depth of field with give you a better chance of getting something sharp. It also helps to have a lens with some sort of Image Stabilization.

In full disclosure - I normally would shoot about five hundred images at a ballgame.

I was going to write this blog about the return of Maya Moore to the state as she and her Minnesota Lynx teammates were taking on the Connecticut Sun at the Mohegan Sun Casino, but it is very late and I will save that post for another day. It wasn't that sweet a homecoming for her anyways...but I will leave that for that post.

Instead, I'm going to talk about a couple of photos I took of Kara Lawson. I've had the pleasure of photographing her as a Tennessee Volunteer, a Sacramento Monarch and a Connecticut Sun player. She is an intense player that leaves it all on the court and has no problem letting her feelings spill out.

All text and photos by John Woike

This image was taken back in 2005 when the Monarchs came to Uncasville to face the Sun in the first game of the WNBA Finals. As her team took a five point lead with just over 8 minutes to play she hit a shot and reacted on her way back down the court.

Tonight, she hit a three pointer, her second in the span of 2 minutes and 2 seconds, to put the Sun up by 27 points with 5:07 remaining in the game. This game was supposed to be much closer as Minnesota came in with the best record in the league and stars like former UConn forward Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, and former CT Sun point guard Lindsay Whalen, but it was all Sun as they scorched the Lynx 108-79.

In the first photo, the Monarchs went on to win the game 69-65 and won the WNBA Championship that year. I can tell you one thing...I'm sure glad Kara Lawson is playing for the home team now!

Pro Tip: Both photos were taken with a Nikon 300/2.8 lens. A Nikon D1H camera body was used in the first one and a Nikon D300s was used for the photo taken Tuesday night. Getting good reaction like this is a test of patience. What I mean by that is, I see too many young photographers (and some older ones too) that immediately begin to "chimp" their cameras after a shot has been made instead of staying with the play. You can't press the shutter if your head is looking elsewhere, there is plenty of time to "chimp" during timeouts. You also need to take a little risk, and what I mean by that is don't always shoot from the offensive side of the court when you are covering "your" team. I've found that the best reaction photos I've taken are from the defensive side - after - the shot is made and the player is heading back down court.

Last week the Connecticut Parachutists Inc. skydiving club celebrated their 50th Anniversary. To mark the occasion they enlisted skydivers from the club and across the country to try a mid-air hookup, the state record is 41 skydivers in one formation, the club needed to form a 50-diver formation to technically claim the record because it had submitted a 50-diver plan to the U. S. Parachute Association. I met some great people with a zest for life, a love of adventure and joyful camaraderie.

All ground photos and text by John Woike.In air photography and video provided courtesy of Steven Feldman of Providence, RI.

On Thursday afternoon skydivers began to work on their formation as groups of 15-20 would jump out of what is known as a Skyvan (pictured above).

Like a choreographed dance the divers rehearsed on the ground, the pinwheel comes to life.

After each jump members would gather in a little shed to review video. B.J. Worth, the chairman of the U.S. Parachute Association, gives pointers to one group of what they will need to improve on in order for them to reach the record breaking goal on Friday. Worth, of White Fish, Montana, took his first jump with Connecticut Parachutists back in 1970.

From the ground it was difficult to spot the divers as they exited the planes from about 14,000 feet...

...but as the formation began to take shape you could see them as they rocketed towards the earth at speeds of 100-120 mph.

Suddenly they group breaks apart and divers go headlong, arms at their sides like wings, until the first person pulls the ripcord and an explosion of color fills the sky above.

The stark contrast of the deep blue sky with the sun streaking through breaks in the clouds makes for a dramatic photo.

One by one they touch down safe and sound ready to collect their chutes and prepare for the next flight.

Matt Connor of Winsted gives the thumbs up after landing. Weather became an issue for the record setting attempt on Friday as a low cloud ceiling did not allow the planes to take off until the afternoon. At the end of the day they fell one person short of the 50 diver record, they needed to stay connected for a full 3 seconds for the jump to become official.

Here is a video I put together using footage I shot on the ground and footage from Steve Feldman in the air, I hope you enjoy the trip.

Pro Tip: Some times the best photos are not within your particular specialty. As much as I would like to think I could jump out of a plane from 14,000 feet, the reality is my feet are better kept planted firmly on the ground...at least for now. ;-) Steve Feldman and the other skydivers that do this kind of photography for hobby or a living were more than gracious to share their images, videos and advice with me, they are even trying to get me to jump tandem with them sometime.

From the ground I used my Nikon D300s and D300 cameras for both stills and video. I also incorporated a M-Audio recorder for sound in the interview with B.J. Worth. Lens were my 17-55 wide angle zoom, a 70-200 zoom and 300 telephoto.